Business books are a dime a dozen, but every once in awhile, I come across one that gets me thinking, stays with me and makes me want to share. That’s how I felt after listening to Daniel H. Pink’s “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”.

Part science and management theory, part down-to-earth management strategies, Pink’s premise is based on four decades of solid scientific research on human motivation. The book is full of businesses across the country who are putting this motivation theory to work with great results.

The 20th Century Motivation Model

The practice of scientific management was born in the early 1900s. At that time, most work consisted of simple, uninteresting tasks, and the only viable method to motivate people to do them was to incentivize them properly and monitor them closely. This is the carrot-and-stick approach. Reward the behavior you want and punish the behavior you don’t want. (more…)